when you are close to me i shiver
by FallingTriumph
Summary: "Uhura was rapidly rethinking her recent life decisions. She'd known that bullying the admin staff into giving her the information she wanted was not one of her better ideas, but she still went through with it." Modern day college AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, unfortunately.

**A/N:** So I just really wanted a modern day Star Trek AU and I couldn't find one, so I wrote one. And it grew. Quite a bit. It is currently 7.5k with several more scenes planned plus stories that aren't Spock/Uhura so it will be a whole 'verse really. The whole thing will read like a series of one shots that may or may not be in chronological order, if they aren't I will tell you where they fit in the author's note. Finally; read, review and let me know if there is anything you want to see/ didn't like. Thanks to Emma for the beta and Kate for the support.

Title is from _Shiver Shiver _by Walk The Moon. Go check out their stuff, it's pretty awesome.

* * *

Uhura was rapidly rethinking her recent life decisions. She'd known that bullying the admin staff into giving her the information she wanted was not one of her better ideas, but she still went through with it. And now here she was, outside Professor Spock's office waiting to ask him if he would tutor her in Romanian, his native language.

There had always been plenty of rumours about Professor Spock; some were nice others not so nice. He was one of the most renowned engineers in the world and his work with long range stealth communication equipment was unparalleled. He also had a bit of a reputation for being an impossible lecturer and an even harsher marker. No one enrolled in his courses had ever received full marks for any project over his five year tenure. It didn't help that he didn't socialise with anyone unless forced to by the University Board and even then only under extreme duress.

Uhura knew all the rumours (her roommate was an excellent source of gossip) and yet despite this was still standing outside his door with her doctorate proposal and notes clutched to her chest. At least she knew one thing about him, _always_ come prepared. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

"Enter." Well, at least he had a nice voice.

The office she stepped into was not at all what she was expecting. She'd been preparing for minimalist furniture and blank walls with maybe a potted plant on the window sill; instead it was full of personal mementos. One wall was a floor to ceiling bookshelf filled with well read books and small trinkets scattered throughout. Another wall was covered in what appeared to be engineering plans for a small device of some kind. The third wall was clearly a sci-fi nerd's version of heaven. It was covered in posters and autographed photos from _Doctor Who, Star Wars_ and many others she didn't know. She noticed with some amusement that the remaining wall behind the desk was clear except for a window where a small potted plant sat on the sill.

"Can I help you, miss..?" He was seated at his desk and looked slightly bemused at the disturbance to his personal haven.

"Oh shit, sorry. Um, yes hi." Well, that had been a terrible start. She winced internally. "My name is Nyota Uhura and I am currently working on my Doctorate in Linguistics. My study is on the morphology, syntax and phonology of modern languages, particularly how the Latin based languages have evolved in the different continents." She paused for a moment, gathering her courage and continuing. "I am currently studying the languages spoken in Europe and I was wondering if you could perhaps tutor me in Romanian. I am somewhat fluent in the language at the moment but I find it is much better to learn from an actual speaker instead of the teaching recordings that I have been using..."

"Please have a seat, would you like a cup of tea?" Spock had risen from his chair and indicated to the one opposite him.

Pulled from her babbling she nodded and unceremoniously dropped in the chair, some of her tightly clutched papers escaping her hold. By the time she had collected the dropped papers and arranged them in some semblance of order a steaming cup of tea was sat in front of her.

"I find this blend is best served without milk or sugar, I hope you don't mind."

"That's fine, thank you sir." She placed her pile of stuff on the corner of his extremely neat desk and cradled the warm mug in her hands.

"Now, you wish for me to tutor you in Romanian for your Doctorate in Linguistics?"

"Yes sir, if you have the time and are willing." She studied her tea.

"How often would you need tutoring and what exactly would it entail?"

"For several hours a week I would need tutoring in conversation, colloquialisms and any dialects you know and/or use. Any old or historical Romanian you know would also be useful but if it entails further research don't worry about it, I will do it in my own time."

"When would you like to start and for how long would you like to continue?"

"As soon as possible and I would like to keep up the lessons until I am fluent or as close as possible."

"I assume that you have several free hours at the moment?" She nodded "Excellent, tell me what you know."

* * *

She stumbled out of Professor Spock's office two hours later, her notes held haphazardly in her arms and her head spinning with everything she had learnt. They had managed to schedule two tutoring sessions a week until the end of semester after much rearranging of timetables. She managed to make it back to her dorm room without injury and discovered it empty and quiet. She thanked whatever deities that existed that her roommate had found entertainment elsewhere for the night and she could spend the rest of the night in silence. She organised her notes from the tutoring session, ate a quick dinner of two minute noodles before collapsing onto her bed, running over everything that had happened that evening.

Nyota had no idea where the rumours about Spock had come from, he was one of the most intelligent, attentive and helpful tutors she had ever had. And if he was this helpful for her, someone who was not one of his students, then she could only imagine how he great he would be for one of his actual students. She could only conclude that the rumours had been started by students feeling they had been slighted by the stoic professor. Admittedly she had no idea how he even ran his lectures, having never attended and resolved to attend at least one this semester to see if she could determine how the rumours started.

It was to thoughts of Spock and the rumours surrounding him that she eventually drifted off.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you all for the kind reviews and follows for this story. I am Australian and as such some things will be spelt a little differently, apologies if this annoys anyone. And I forgot to mention last chapter but updates will be every Friday. Read, enjoy and review!

* * *

"So how's the tutoring going with Spock? From what I've heard he's a real hard-arse." Christine asked.

"He's not as bad as I was expecting. I mean, he expects a lot but it's not completly unreasonable." Nyota said, feeling oddly protective of Spock.

"She's completely over the moon about him, she's all happy and cheery when she gets back from those 'tutoring' sessions." Gaila joined in. "It's actually quite scary how happy she is when she gets back."

She was at her weekly Friday girls lunch and seriously regretting bringing up Spock in the first place. The group that turned up was very rarely the same as the previous week, with many of them on schedules that changed weekly. She's not really sure how the lunches started; they had all just sort of fell into each other through mutual irritation of the male populace and then suddenly it was a thing that they did on a semi-regular basis. Besides herself and Gaila there was Christine who was doing a nursing degree and had been introduced to them on an alcohol filled night by Bones and Janice Rand who was doing a Business degree and one of Kirk's few failed flings who happened to stick around.

Most of the time it was pretty fun, they caught up, traded gossip and drank more than was probably wise. Unfortunately todays gossip trading was all about Nyota and her study sessions with Professor Spock.

"But how did you get him to agree to tutor you? Everything I've heard paints him as some sort of unbending lecturer who takes marks off for the smallest mistake." Janice asked.

"I honestly have no idea; I went to go see him in his office and started rambling, he stopped me offered me a cup of tea and the next thing I knew we had spent over two hours in his office and we had organised times for the rest of the semester." She shrugged "I can't help thinking that those rumours are spread by ungrateful students who didn't pass his course because they didn't put any effort in."

"So do you like him? I trust Gaila's assumptions as much as I trust Kirk with a plane but is there something there?" Christine always knew how to get to the heart of the matter.

They paused while the waiter appeared with their drinks and lunch before continuing.

"I don't know, you have to admit he is quite easy on the eyes and he's smart enough to keep up with me instead of following along behind. And he listens to me, like actually listens and doesn't tune out halfway through. He always makes my tea exactly the way I like it…" She trails off when she realises that they are all staring at her.

"Girl, you have it bad. Like really bad." Gaila said.

She sighs and drops her head into her hands. "I know but it's not like anything is going to come of it. I could not have picked a more unattainable professor if I tried. He has never broken a rule in his life and now I want him to go running off with me."

Chapel sighed"It is probably the stupidest thing you have done to date." Nyota glared at Chapel, who just ginned. "Well it's true. This even beats the time that Janice thought it would be a good idea to sleep with Kirk."

"Hey!"

"..and if we talked her out of that we can talk you out of this. We will, however need more alcohol. A lot more alcohol." Chapel continued, motioning for the waiter to bring another bottle of wine.

* * *

Gaila and Nyota stumbled into their dorm room hours later, looking a little the worse for wear and collapsed onto Gaila's bed.

"What are you going to do Ny?"

"I don't know, ignore it until it goes away I guess. Not like I have many other options."

Gaila made an apologetic noise before snuggling into her side. "I wish it was different, this is the first time I've seen you excited about something that isn't schoolwork or singing."

"It's okay Gai, I'll just to get over it, which is going to take some time. In the meantime I'm going to stay right here and look forward to tomorrow's spectacular hangover."

"Love you Ny."

"Love you too."

Despite all the alcohol flooding her system, it was a long time before Nyota was able to fall asleep.

Despite all the alcohol flooding her system, it was a long time before Nyota was able to fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Once again thank you for all the follows and kind words, it really does make my day. Enjoy!

* * *

It had been four weeks into her tutoring sessions with Professor Spock and she was going insane. At first she had enjoyed her sessions with Spock, they were interesting and engaging, really making her think about the structure of language. Her comprehension of Romanian had increased exponentially over the course of the sessions but unfortunately her grammar had not. So for the past two weeks that was all they had been doing and it was slowly driving her insane.

It was endless repetition of tenses, verb conjugations and sentence structure. She knew that this part was essential to learning a new language; she was a linguistics student and could speak fluently in several different languages. It still didn't make it any more fun.

"Romanian is traditionally rather difficult to learn particularly because the article is conjugated to the end of the verb and the multitude of tenses. Additionally the letters 'w, y and q' are not included in the alphabet and unless they are included in imported words are never used."

She knew she should be paying attention to Spock; that the things he was saying were essential to her understanding of the language but she just couldn't seem to focus. Instead she studied him. He was in his usual crisp white shirt and perfectly tied tie that she couldn't help but think was his uniform and armour to warn off those who tried to get close. When paired with his typically bland expression it was quite effective. In deference to the fact it was after hours and a Friday night, he had rolled the sleeves of his shirt up and loosened his tie, which she couldn't help but think was at least part of the reason as to why she was currently unable to pay attention. The play of muscle under his skin in his forearms was distracting enough but when combined with the hint of skin the loosened tie hinted at, her concentration had no hope in hell.

It was only several minutes later when she had made a detailed inspection of his (rather limited if she was being quite honest) facial movements and attempted to commit them to memory did she realise that he had asked her a question. "Sorry sir, I didn't quite get that." Her cheeks heated with embarrassment.

"I was asking you about apples."

She blinked, "Apples sir?"

"Correct, I asked you to repeat a sentence about apples. I will repeat the sentence in English and then you are to say it back to me in Romanian. Is that understood?" His face was carefully blank.

"Yes sir, sorry sir."

"I went to the store and bought three red apples and four green apples. In total I have seven apples."

_"I went to the store and buy three red apples and four green apples. In all I have seven apples."_

"Close Miss Uhura. _'bought' _not '_buy'_ and _'in total' _not _'in all.'"_ Wincing she repeated the statement with the appropriate changes. "Repeat the following sentence back to me. 'If I had more money, I would have bought a pineapple.'"

_"If I had more money, I would have bought an pineapple."_

"'_a pineapple'_ not '_an pineapple'_, remember that it's neutral."

"Of course sir; _if I had more money, I would have bought a pineapple."_

"What is the matter today Miss Uhura? I have never seen you this unfocused." The lines around his eyes softened slightly, indicating his concern (and the fact that she noticed this was of no consequence at all).

"It's just been a long week, I guess. Well, a long couple of weeks really. It's nothing to worry about; I'll pay more attention from now on."

He studied her for a moment. "Very well, do you have any questions about today's lesson?"

_"Do you even like pineapple?"_ She had no idea where that came from but it was a little late to take it back now.

To his credit, he didn't even blink at the odd question or the sudden language change. _"Not particularly Miss Uhura. Do you like pineapples?"_

_"You may call me Uhura, you don't need to worry about the Miss."_ He gave a slight nod in agreement. _"And yes I do like pineapples my favourite is when they are..._ sautéed_, I don't know the Romanian word, in alcohol. What is your favourite fruit Professor Spock?"_

_"Plums, my favourite fruit is plums. When it is distilled into liquor it is called Țuică. Traditionally it is served before every meal and brought out for special occasions. It is only ever served in as a shot because it is too strong to be sipped and it's meant to increase appetite. It's also illegal to produce but the government turns a blind eye because otherwise they would have to arrest the entire country."_ He was talking too fast for her to follow but whatever it was it made him positively light up. _"What I like best about it though is that once you get past the burn of the alcohol you get the wonderful after taste of the plumbs that sit in your mouth for long after you've finished. The best tasting Țuică I ever found was sold by this little old man who sold it from his truck on the side of the road in old plastic water bottles. That is the one thing I truly miss about Romania."_

She was grinning at him, she knew she was grinning at him and she couldn't help it. He was adorable and thoughtful and kind and holy shit she was falling for him. This was very, very not cool. All she needed was to ignore the entire thing and hope that it all went away. There is no way she going to fall completely head over heels for the senior professor who was teaching her Romanian so she could get her doctorate in linguistics.

"I'm sorry Uhura, I got carried away." His ears were tinged pink and she had never seen anything more endearing in her life. Clearly life was trying to screw her over.

"No, it's fine sir, maybe one day I will get to try this..._Țuică." _She gave him a little half smile. "I didn't quite catch all of what you said though; it was a little too fast for me."

"Do not trouble yourself, it was of no consequence. However I do believe we have gone over time. It's quite dark outside, would you like an escort home?" His ears were still pink but he was earnest about his offer.

"That would be most welcome." She gathered her notes into a neat pile before placing them her satchel.

It was a quiet walk home, with Spock dropping her respectably at her dorm house and waiting until she was inside before turning on his heel and striding back the way they had come. She avoided the elevator and walked up the three flights of stairs to her room. Dumping her bag by the door she flopped face down onto her bed.

She was so fucking screwed.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Sorry for the late upload, it's been a long week. As always read, enjoy and review.

* * *

There was something troubling Spock. She had no idea what it was but she knew there was something. The fact that she was able to recognise that something _was _wrong was something that she was quietly proud of (or concerned that she spent that much time with him depending on what day it was).

After a week of Spock being particularly vicious in correcting her written work, Nyota decided to find out what it was that was bothering him and sort it out. All in the name of self-preservation really, there was only so much criticism she could take before it really started to hurt. After some discreet asking around she finally figured out that he was being asked to teach a new course in the linguistics department and as such needed to take on a teaching assistant.

Now that she knew what the problem was, she could find a solution. Once again bullying the admin staff into giving her the files she required, she spent the night going through them all to weed out the ones that were totally unsuitable. She was left with a stack of fifteen from forty.

At her next tutoring session she placed the files on his desk. "I know you have to take on a new course, and as such a teaching assistant. These are all the files of the students who I feel would best suit your needs and would be able to keep up with you. We are going through them today and you are to pick one. My ego cannot take much more of your moping."

"I was not moping." He still took the first file off the pile and begun to take it.

"My marks say otherwise."

The following half hour was spent going through the files and debating the suitability of each student. Eventually they had whittled it down to two options but couldn't agree on one.

"Rand is the perfect choice, halfway through a degree in Business Management she would be able to keep everything organised and ensure that you are kept up to date with all relevant details."

"I agree that she would be very efficient, but what is the point of having a teaching assistant if they cannot assist me in the teaching aspect? Sulu would be a much better option; as he is already doing a form of engineering he would be able to assist in that half of my teaching duties allowing me to focus on the linguistics course when needed. I know she is your friend but I cannot help thinking that Sulu would be better suited."

They were both seated at Spock's desk, the files scattered between them with two cold cups of tea on top. The argument had been going on for a while and was getting rather circular, neither of them willing to give in.

"There is another option."

She didn't think she had missed any suitable candidates in the initial stack of files but she could have been wrong. She wasn't terribly surprised that he wanted to check them over again "Yes of course, you want to see the original stack of files. They are still on my desk in my room so it will be ten minutes or so for me to get them."

"Sit down Miss Uhura, I do not wish to review the initial files." He paused for a moment and looked down at his tightly clasped hands. "Why could you not be my teaching assistant? You are familiar with my work ethic, have known me in a professional manner for just over two months, have proven yourself a capable student and able to keep up with me intellectually. The fact that you were able to choose fifteen students out of forty, all of whom are suitable for me only proves this."

She stared at him, trying to process everything he had just said. "You want me as your TA?"

"Only if you wish, otherwise I will ask Mr Sulu." He was still looking at his hands, which seemed to be getting whiter around the knuckles.

"Professor Spock, I would be honoured to be your teaching assistant." She was grinning, which she knew was completely ridiculous but could do nothing to stop herself.

"I would be honoured to have you."

The slight upwards twitch of his mouth was the best thing she had seen all week.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **You get this chapter early today because I have work later. Fun fact; this was the first scene I wrote for this fic. It's probably my favourite.

* * *

"Miss Uhura, what are you doing in the recreational hall at one in the morning?"

Nyota flinched and fell off the couch she was trying to sleep on, letting out a string of curses in Russian as she picked herself up from the floor.

"Sorry sir, it's just my roommate is... entertaining a gentleman tonight and requested that I take my presence elsewhere. I didn't want to interrupt others study with it being so close to exams so I thought I would sleep on the couch." By now she was on her feet and doing her best to ignore the fact that she was in sweat pants and an oversized hoodie.

"I assume that when you say entertaining, you mean sex."

She blushed. "Yes sir."

He stared at her for several seconds, his blank expression giving nothing away. "Collect your belongings Miss Uhura, you may sleep in my spare room tonight."

"Sir?" She was almost certain that he had asked her to sleep in his spare room but that couldn't possibly be right. She was clearly still dreaming.

"The recreational hall is not a suitable sleeping environment. It is most certainly not safe nor is that couch particularly conducive for sleep. You must be well rested to study effectively especially as your final paper is due in a month." He shifted his weight slightly and if she didn't know better she would have thought he was nervous. "Therefore it makes sense for you accept my offer and sleep in my spare room. I will provide you with breakfast in the morning and it is only a ten minute walk from campus."

She stared at him for a bit before pinching herself, just to make sure she wasn't still asleep on the couch. She wasn't. "Thank you sir, that sounds wonderful."

She grabbed the small bag of her study materials and a change of clothes and slung it over her shoulder while slipping on her shoes. "Alright, lead the way sir."

"Spock, my name is Spock."

She grinned at him, her heart fluttering. "Well then, lead the way Spock."

Nyota woke up to the smell of pancakes and coffee and for a moment had no idea where the hell she was. Then the events of the previous night came rushing back. She was in Spock's spare room. The most attractive, unattainable, brilliant professor currently employed at Hudson University. And she was in his spare room after spending the night. And it smelt like he was currently cooking her breakfast. She briefly considered that someone had slipped her something last night and this was all a hallucination but that coffee smell was too real to be a dream.

She made herself semi respectable before following her nose to the kitchen and then had to stop in the doorway, her brain refusing to compute what her eyes were seeing. Spock was indeed cooking them breakfast. There were two cups of steaming coffee on the table, next to milk and sugar. He was at the stove flipping a pancake with two smaller stacks on the bench next to him. And all he was wearing was a pair of sweat pants, slung low on his hips. His hair was mussed up, he clearly hadn't taken the time to tidy it up and the image he presented was so far from the usual stoic professor that she didn't know what to do.

"Miss Uhura, you may have seat. There is no need to wait in the doorway." His voice startled her out her stupor.

"If I get to call you Spock then you can call me Nyota."

"Nyota, you may have a seat. The pancakes will be ready in a minute."

She sat at the table and added a dash of milk to her coffee before studying Spock further. He was lean, with broad shoulders that tapered down to a narrow waist. There was not an ounce of fat on him. He turned the stove off and she jerked her gaze up to his face before she was caught ogling him.

"I trust that you are not allergic to anything?" He placed a plate in front of her before sitting opposite. "If so I can cook you something else." He looked faintly worried but it was hard to tell, his face was set in its usual blank mask.

"No, I'm not allergic to anything and these pancakes look delicious."

"Excellent, please start. There is one other thing I have prepared for today." Getting up again he grabbed a plate of something and placed it on the table. It was pineapple pieces sautéed in alcohol. "I know that it is not a traditional breakfast food but I thought you would enjoy it nonetheless."

"Thank you Spock, this is wonderful. I can't believe you remembered." She swallowed a piece, the slight burn of the alcohol mingling with the sweetness of the fruit. There was happy warmth that had settled in her stomach, and she was pretty sure it had nothing to with the alcohol.

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards before he proceeded to smother his pancakes in maple syrup. She had a feeling that this was going to be the best breakfast she had ever had.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Oh god guys, I am so sorry for not uploading this yesterday. Please forgive me. Work and Uni has been so crazy the past week that I have totally lost track of days and thought that today was Friday when it is in fact Saturday. Anyway, here is the chapter you all have been waiting for. Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter, made this week a lot easier to bear.

* * *

She had been his teaching assistant for just over half a semester when he was invited to a conference in the next state over. It was something to do with his latest engineering project, a project that she had absolutely nothing to do with and so was not expecting an invitation. She had received one anyway. He had muttered something about needing her to take notes, keep him organised and get him to places on time. Apparently the conference was more a meet and greet for all the high ranking dignitaries and as Spock's family was one of the oldest in Romania he was expected to mingle and make connections rather than do his talk and then hide in his room as he was used to doing.

It was only two days after Spock had received the initial invitation that he asked her to attend. He made it sound that it was entirely logical for Nyota to attend the three day conference with him. She knew that didn't mean anything by it, but it didn't stop her brain running off and concocting all these elaborate fantasies involving her and Spock spending the entire conference locked in the hotel room without clothing. She was just thankful that their hotel rooms were across the hall from each other. She was going to have enough issues sleeping across the hall from him, she didn't want to think what would happen if they had to share a room.

It was the second day of the conference and if his self-control wasn't as good as it was she was sure that he would have seriously injured someone by now. She was standing half a step behind him and to his right, as was expected of an assistant. Over the years of her higher education there had been a few lewd comments thrown her way mainly because she was female and of African origin. She tended to ignore them, knowing that they only made those remarks to provoke a response from her. If one was particularly bad she would cut them down to size with a few sharp words and if that failed to stop them she would report them to the higher ups, whoever they were. Nyota had not expected any such comments while attending such a prestigious conference and so was mildly surprised when she overheard several such comments.

"There is no way she earnt her position here, she has to be fucking one of the higher ups"

"Did you see her ass? God, the things I would do it."

"Maybe a good fucking would loosen her up." The last one came from another assistant who she had turned down at the start of the conference. Clearly he didn't handle rejection well.

While she was annoyed and slightly appalled at the comments, it was nothing she hadn't heard before. Spock on the other hand was not coping with them quite as well. His jaw was clenched and hands curled into fists, it looked like he was about to go over there and put the speakers in their place. Preferably with his fists. Placing herself between him and the men, she placed her hand lightly on his arm.

"Professor Spock, you need to calm down." He didn't look at her, still glaring at the men. She squeezed his arm. "Spock! I am feeling rather ill; could you please escort me to my room?"

She wasn't sure if it was the increased pressure on his arm or her words that got through to him but he snapped out of it, his eyes darting down to focus on her. "Come Uhura, I will take you back to your room." He guided her out of the room with a hand at the small of his back.

He was silent all the way to her room but she knew he was still furious. They were standing outside her door when he finally said something.

"I am sorry for how I acted, I know it was unprofessional but they were saying those things and I just…" His fists were clenched at his sides again.

"It's okay Spock thank you for the thought. But it's really alright, I've heard much worse directed at me." She gave a little self-deprecating smile.

His hands were suddenly gripping her shoulders and he was closer to her than he had even been before. She could feel the heat radiating off him and it was somewhat intoxicating.

"Who has said these things about you?"

"It doesn't matter, I handled it."

"You shouldn't have to handle, these comments should never been made in the beginning." His eyes narrowd.

"I know that. But, unfortunately, I'm both black and female. Some people take that as permission to make those sorts of remarks." Suddenly remembering that they were still in the hotel hallway where anyone could see them she made to open her door. The noise he made stopped her. "It's okay sir. I was just going to open my door so we could continue this discussion inside."

He released her shoulders, allowing her to fish the key card out of her bag and turn to the door while crowding her from behind. He stayed right behind her as she placed her bag on the side table and kicked her shoes off. When she turned around his blank face was back in place, all hints of anger hidden.

"Nyota I must apologize. I acted illogically and caused you distress. I also thank you for stopping me from doing anything… irrational. It is appreciated." Spock's hands were clasped behind his back in his customary position. "I am still concerned that you receive comments of this nature on a regular basis. I did not realise that such harassment was so common on University grounds."

"It's really not that bad. I just happen to get a lot more than others due to my skin colour. But it's okay, I've learnt to deal with it. I either ignore it or report them to the board, plus I am qualified in several forms of martial arts as well as basic self-defence. And you have nothing to apologise for, it was sweet of you to want to stick up for me."

"It is still not appropriate conduct for such a conference, those men are in positions of power and should not be abusing said power to make comment of that nature."

"I know, but such is life at the moment. I wish that it wasn't like this but unfortunately that is what I have to deal with on a semi-regular basis." She stood in front of him, closer than usual.

He studied her for a while, eyes flicking all over her face as if trying to dechipher a particularly cryptic code.

"Spock, are you okay?"

"I hope you will forgive me for this."

"For wha-"

She was cut off by Spock gently framing her face with his hands and kissing her. It was only a simple press of his lips to hers but it sent what felt like sparks racing across her skin. He pulled away after a moment but she didn't let him go far, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him back into another kiss and another and another. Eventually they broke apart, his hands still framing her face and her hands buried in the short hair at the nape of his neck.

"The only way I would have to forgive you for that is if it was unwelcome. It was very much welcome."

"I did not want to presume, especially after the earlier comments."

"I have wanted you to do that for quite a while, since you started talking about that plumb spirit you find in Romania. You were so involved and you forgot I was there, your whole face lit up and I couldn't look away." She was carding her fingers through the short hairs at the nape of his neck. She could feel the muscles twitch in response to her touch.

"I have wanted to kiss you from the moment you walked through my doors and asked to be tutored, I just didn't know it. I thought it was just curiosity that made me agree to tutor you but mother pointed out that I was definitetly _fond_ of you after the third phone call to her where I mentioned you at least five times."

"You mentioned me five times? What on earth could you say about me that required five different topics?"

The tips of his ears went red and there were two spots of colour sitting high on his cheeks. "Well to start with, there is your impressive intellect and how you always seem to be on the same page as me, if not a step ahead. Then there is your kind nature, how you are always willing to help those who ask even if it impacts your personal life." As he was talking he was slowly edging her towards the bed, his lips softly peppering her cheeks and forehead with light kisses. "Your laugh is another, it is one of the best sounds I have ever heard, all light and joy and warmth. Your language skills always astound me. How one person can know all those different languages amazes me daily." He nibbled slightly at her ear, making her catch her breath. "And finally there is you, how you walk, how you always have to have a cup of African tea in the morning otherwise you are grumpy. How you hate people who ask stupid questions but answer them anyway. Just you Nyota, everything you do fascinates me."

The back of her legs hit the edge of the bed and Spock slowly lowered her down, still kissing her everywhere he can reach. Eventually she is lying on her back with Spock's comforting warmth on top of her. He was still talking and while it was flattering to hear him extoling her virtues, she just really wanted him to shut up.

"As much as I love the ego boost Spock, there are far better things your mouth could be doing right now." She murmured, pulling his chin closer to her lips with one hand whilst going for his top button with the other.

He eventually got the hint.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Oh god guys, there is no way that I could ever apologise enough for not posting this last week. Life just got away from me and something had to give, which happened to be this. Next week's chapter will also be late as I am off volunteering on a camp for disadvantaged kids.

There will be no smut in this story, it is not something I have ever felt comfortable writing and therefore there will be none in this story. Sorry if this disappoints anyone.

Simone, that was the sweetest, most encouraging review I have ever gotten and my only complaint is that I could not reply to it because you were a guest.

Sorry for the long authors note, enjoy the story guys!

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"Uhura, why is Professor Spock staring at us? Are we doing something wrong?" Pavel Chekov was staring rather stubbornly at the table in front of them, while Spock was staring just as stubbornly at her back.

She glanced over her shoulder, "Don't worry about it, we aren't doing anything wrong. I will talk to him later. In the meantime explain to me what I've done wrong here." And with that simple question his attention was diverted.

She could still feel Spock's eyes burning into her back.

Chekov was a Russian exchange student who was some sort of genius in the mathematics field. Unfortunately his English was lacking and that was how she had made him agree to tutor her in Russian. He was a sweet kid, always happy and overly exuberant and it was hard not to treat him like a little puppy sometimes. And as such he got a lot of hugs and casual touches from her and everyone else, which was probably the reason Spock was currently glaring at them. Oh well, she would deal with it later, she promised herself. Right now, she had verb conjugations to learn.

Later turned out to be quite a bit later that she'd expected. Firstly she had to deal with Gaila discovering that she had actually fallen for someone without sleeping with them first. That had been a long weekend culminating in both of them getting very drunk and Gaila ranting about Scottish men who just couldn't take a hint until said Scottish man turned up and escorted her back to his place leaving Nyota to rely on Kirk to get her back to her dorm room.

Then there was some issue in the Engineering labs, some idiot first year had downloaded software that came with a particularly vicious virus. Spock being the best was obviously called in to help and he spent several days locked in the labs trying to prevent it from infecting the entire system. She had thought Engineering students were meant to be smart but some were apparently lacking basic computer knowledge.

Then when they were finally both free, Spock decided that he was avoiding her. For someone who apparently had no social skills, he was quite adept at avoiding someone when he put his mind to it. She eventually corners him on Friday evening after his last tutorial of the week.

She got to his room fifteen minutes early and waits outside until all the students have filed out before entering and shutting the door behind her.

"Spock, we need to talk."

"I think you will find we need to do no such thing." His back was turned, hunched over his desk while he packed up his things.

"I think _you_ will find that we really do. This whole ignoring thing is really not working for me, I would actually like to see you once in a while."

"I do not see why that is necessary."

"You don't- oh my god, what is wrong with you?" She threw her hands up in frustration.

"Nothing is wrong with me. As I said previously, I think you will find we don't _need_ to talk. All correspondence for your teaching assistant duties can be done through email, therefor eliminating the need for face to face conversations." He slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and finally turned to face her. His expression was cold and flat.

"Well that's fantastic but what about when I don't want to talk to you about my teaching assistant duties, what if I want to go on a date with you? Will we have to do that over email to?" She asked sarcastically.

"I do not see us going on dates in the future." He made towards the door but she blocked the exit.

"No, you are not leaving. We are staying right here until you explain to me how we were going fine, hell more than fine last week and now I am suddenly getting the cold shoulder. I would like an explanation." They were going to do this and they were going to do this now, Nyota thought.

"I am not giving you the cold shoulder, I clearly misunderstood the terms of our relationship and for that I am sorry. I will attempt to not jump to conclusions in the future." His face was carefully blank and he was staring at a spot just above her left shoulder.

"Misunderstood… What does that even mean?"

"I saw you and that Russian" His voice was clipped and short with the tiniest bit of heat creeping in.

It took her a moment to think back before snorting a laugh, "You mean Chekov?"

"Yes him. I did not realise that we were not _exclusive _and I am sorry for the misunderstanding. Now we have spoken about it, can I leave?"

"No there is something you have misunderstood but it's not what you think it is. What is my doctorate on?"

"Linguistics."

"Specifically which part?"

"The morphology, syntax and phonology of modern languages, particularly how the Latin based languages have evolved in the different continents."

"Correct."

"But then why were you talking about Russian, it uses a Cyrillic based alphabet." He said. She though she detected confusion and a hint of hurt in his voice.

"I know but my mentor suggested that I introduce at least one non-Latin based language to discuss the evolutionary differences in the different languages." She was slowly moving towards him. He didn't seem to want to leave anymore.

"So it wasn't a date?"

"Well he is quite handsome, fun to talk and is rather funny." His face settled into a scowl. "But I can't help think that his boyfriend would be most put out if I stole him away, especially because it took him quite a while to convince Chekov to go out with him."

Spock blinked. "The Russian is gay?"

"The Russian's name is Pavel Chekov and yes he is gay." By this point she was standing directly in front of him. "So yes you misunderstood, but not in the way you thought."

"Yes, that is becoming apparent."

"So while we are somewhat on the topic I have something to say to you. If you _ever_ do something as idiotic as you have done over the past week, I will kick your ass so hard you will feel it for the next month. I don't care how illogical that is, it will happen. If you have an issue with something you will talk to me, you will not go off in a sulk and blatantly ignore me. You will not make assumptions about my relationships with other men or women. Not only is it uncalled for, it is insulting that you do not trust me."

The longer she went on the smaller Spock seemed to get, drawing his shoulders in and ducking his head.

"I am sorry Nyota, I cannot promise not to make conclusions but I can promise to talk to you before acting… irrationally." His head was still down.

"That is all I ask." She studied him for a moment, "and for the record when I'm with someone, I am with them and only them."

The smile he gave her left her breathless.

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**A/N: **Would anyone be interested in a one shot about Chekov and Sulu?


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